NEWS

Dublin landlord found decomposed body in his apartment

The body of a man was found in the basement of an apartment by landlord Gerry Collins and his brother Michael Collins. A gardener notified the landlord that the occupant of the apartment had been missing for a number of weeks.

The man who was found in the apartment was Noel Gaughan (64) who had been living in the apartment for the past number of years.

Speaking about the discovery of the body, the landlord said "We were there within the hour and found him seated in a chair in the kitchen. It was obvious he’d been dead a long time."

Mr. Gaughan was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia a number of years ago heard the Dublin’s Coroner Court. The court also heard that he lived alone at the property and had become separated from his family six months prior to this death.

Garda Christopher Daly arrived at the Dun Laoghaire apartment at around 1pm on June 30th, 2015, he found the man fully dressed and seated at the kitchen table and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Garda also told the court that “The doctor thought he may have been dead for two to three weeks.”

The court heard that the electricity was pre-paid and had been cut off. The apartment was in darkness and the owner used a torch to conduct his initial search of the apartment.

According to Dr Susan Aherne the cause of death was undermined due to decomposition of the body but the pathologist noted no evidence of injury or trauma.

Mr Gaughan was a non-smoker and a non-drinker but occasionally came off his medication which affected his health the court heard.